News

Midfielders Lissette Brandao and Angela Correia Playing for W-League Side

West Windsor, N.J. (Friday, February 13, 2009) – The New Jersey Wildcats formally announced today two key acquisitions for their upcoming USL W-League campaign, which is slated to kick off this May. The team is pleased to proclaim that Portuguese National Team midfielders Lissette Brandao and Angela Correia have officially declared their intentions of patrolling the field for the Wildcats this season.

“By the way the team is coming together, I think we can get back to competing with the top tier of the league this season,” Brandao stated. “We slipped just a bit last summer, but there is a new energy surrounding the team now.”

Prior to joining the Wildcats in 2005, Brandao began her W-League career in 2004 for the New Jersey Lady Stallions, collecting four goals and an assist in her rookie campaign. She is a graduate of Rutgers University, where she was a four-year starter and also wore the captain band for the Scarlet Knights. While playing high school soccer at Union Catholic High School, the Rahway native led her team to three Union County titles and a sectional crown in 1999. She was a three-time All-State selection and also won a State Cup championship with her club team, the Wyckoff Torpedoes. Brandao is currently the head coach of the girl’s soccer team at Johnson Regional High School in Clark, and she earned her first caps with the Portuguese National Team last year in the Algarve Cup.

“It was an unbelievable feeling the first time I stepped onto the international stage and heard the Portuguese National Anthem,” she recollected. “It instantly gave me an adrenalin rush.”

Joining Brandao with the Wildcats is her teammate on the Portuguese National Team, Angela Correia.

“The most memorable time of those two weeks was holding China to a 1-1 draw in regulation, losing eventually in penalty kicks,” Correia recalled. “Vacationing in Algarve, spending a day at the beach and the overall cultural experience over those two weeks was terrific.”

Before playing college soccer at Dominican College, Correia had an outstanding high school career at Elizabeth High School. She was an All-Conference, All-County and All-State selection during her four years there, in addition to being named Player of the Year each season. Correia then made an immediate impact for Dominican College, being named the Central Athletic Collegiate Conference Rookie of the Year after she led her school in points (20), goals (7) and assists (6) during her freshman season. For her four-year college career, she tallied 52 points on 19 goals and 14 assists.

The New Jersey Wildcats played their debut season in the W-League in 1996 and have competed every season since. Under the guidance of then-head coach Charlie Naimo, the Wildcats compiled a 41-1 regular season record from 2004-06, winning regular season titles in 2004 and 2006 while taking the W-League championship in 2005. Following the 2005 season, the Wildcats were named the USL Franchise of the Year, and Naimo won the FieldTurf W-League Coach of the Year award in 2006.

The USL W-League played its inaugural season in 1995, and it is recognized as the premiere development league for female players in North America. The schedule is set to open in May, and the Wildcats will play the home opening match of their 14th season when they host the Boston Renegades for a 4:00 p.m. showdown on Sunday, June 7.